1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to biometric imaging systems. More particularly, the present invention is related to a fingerprint imaging system.
2. Background Art
Biometrics is a science involving the analysis of biological characteristics. Biometric imaging captures a measurable characteristic of a human being for identity purposes. Print capture and recognition is an important biometric technology. Law enforcement, banking, voting, and other industries increasingly rely upon prints as a biometric to store, recognize or verify identity. See, e.g., Gary Roethenbaugh, Biometrics Explained, International Computer Security Association, Inc., pp. 1-34, (1998), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Generally, a biometric is a measurable, physical characteristic or personal behavior trait used to recognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity, of a person who has a biometric reference template (e.g., data that represents a biometric measurement) on file.
One type of biometric imaging system is an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems can be used for law enforcement purposes to collect print images from criminal suspects when they are arrested.
One type of AFIS input device is a ten-print scanner. Typically, ten-print scanners require each finger to be imaged using a roll print technique. Each finger is identified prior to imaging (e.g., right hand thumb, right hand ring finger, left hand middle finger, etc). This enables the device to know whether the left or right hand is being imaged and to know where to place the imaged print on a fingerprint card. Unfortunately, the process of rolling each finger to obtain prints during an arrest or background check is a relatively complex and time consuming process. Also, ten-print scanners are usually custom-made consoles. Such consoles contain built-in equipment, such as a monitor, a keyboard, a pointing device, and at least one processor for processing and viewing fingerprint images. Custom-made consoles are very expensive and are manufactured at low volume rates. Custom-made consoles are also burdened with high maintenance costs. When the console malfunctions, the entire system is inoperable.
What is needed is a fingerprint workstation that can capture plain impression fingerprints. What is also needed is an affordable fingerprint workstation with reduced complexity relative to a conventional rolled print workstation, which can provide data and fingerprint image integrity based on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) certification standards. What is further needed is a fingerprint workstation that can: capture up to four simultaneous fingerprint impressions as a single image, segment the single image to create four separate images, and automatically determine whether the single image is a left or right hand image.